YSF: I post a chapter and then immediately start on the next one. I was
going through the previous chapter, and found this typo:
"That's the size of all of the rooms, except for the slaves and servants quarters, and also the pharaoh's chambers and they are bigger," said Yami.
It should actually be:
"That's the size of all of the rooms, except for the slaves and servants quarters, and also the pharaoh's chambers and that's bigger," said Yami.
YSF: hehe, my muse and editor both had run away, so I missed it. Fortunately, I have new ones that won't run away, right?
Ryou: is wearing a visor that says 'editor' I won't.
Yugi: me neither.
YSF: you guys are so much cuter and nicer than Yami and Bakura. Yugi, can you do the disclaimer?
Yugi: sure. YSF doesn't own Yugioh, Egypt, or anything else that she might have forgotten to add in this disclaimer.
################################################################
The walk to the palace wasn't a long one, but for Yami carrying things, it was a little bit of torture. When they arrived, Yami saw Aniba waiting for them at the top of the steps leading to the entrance.
"Maria, this is my sister Aniba. Aniba, this is Maria," said Yami dropping the bag.
"It's a pleasure to meet you at last," said Aniba.
"Likewise," said Maria smiling.
A second later, Shimon came out and told Yami and Aniba to take Maria to the throne room while he took care of Maria's possessions. Being led into the throne room, Maria saw a person standing next to the pharaoh's throne.
"Maria, welcome again to the palace," said Akunumkanon as Maria bowed.
"Thank you sir, Yami told me that you want me to become a priestess," said Maria.
"That is correct. This is Seto. He'll be mentoring you in everything that you need to know. Yami and Aniba will also be helping him out. Aniba, would you take Maria to be cleaned up and clothed in the proper attire?" said Akunumkanon.
"Yes father. Maria follow me," said Aniba walking out of the throne room.
As they walked, Maria thought of something suddenly. "Does Seto ever smile?" she asked.
Aniba laughed at that. "You have to catch him at a good time," she snickered, "Otherwise, you would see him always serious. He's dedicated to his work, making him the perfect candidate to teach you. Besides the fact that he's my cousin."
After her bath, Maria stood in front of her mirror, while Aniba put on finishing touches, surprised at the image reflected back at her. She had on a white dress that was slightly form fitting with a gold belt. Her arms were adorned with gold arm and wristbands, and on her feet were soft, white slippers with gold trim. (Yugi: basically the outfit that priestess Isis wears in the Ancient Egypt manga. Ryou: Shh!) Maria's normally dull brown hair was now shiny, soft, and pulled back in a braid to keep it out of her face.
"Aniba, how did you do it? It seems like a totally different person is staring at me from the mirror," Maria said turning to face her new friend.
"Washing off grime and dirt usually does that to people," joked Aniba earning a slight glare from Maria.
"Very funny," said Maria, "So when am I to meet Mr. Serious?"
"I'm supposed to take you now," said Aniba, "Once your torture... I mean training is done, maybe Yami will drop by to give you a tour."
Aniba led Maria through the halls to finally stop in front of a set of doors. "Here you are, Seto's waiting," Aniba said as she knocked on the door and pushed it open.
Maria walked into the room to see Seto waiting for her. "Maria, it's nice to see you prepared for lesson," said Seto sitting down on a chair.
"What are we going to do first Seto?" asked Maria sitting down in the other chair.
"Well, I was thinking to start with the basics, teaching you to read and write, because you'll need that the most," said Seto picking up a piece of papyrus and a stylus. (Ryou's note: a stylus is what the Ancient Egyptians used to write with. It was basically a sharpened stick dipped in ink, and used like a quill. Yugi: I should shush you now. Ryou: I was only explaining something, unlike your previous interruption. YSF: please boys, no fighting, I'm trying to write.)
"Umm, I already know how to read and write," said Maria quietly.
Seto raised an eyebrow. "Really, and who taught you this?" he asked curiously.
"Well, as you know, I was, until maybe an hour ago, a dancer. Once I performed for a retired scribe and his guests, and he didn't have enough to pay me for my services, so he offered to teach me to read and write as payment," Maria explained.
"Ah, the gift that keeps on giving. Very well, before I start teaching you how to harness your magic and to memorize spells, I will teach you proper palace, shrine, and temple etiquette along with our policies and duties that we priests are expected to fulfill. Understood?" asked Seto. Seeing Maria nod, they began.
About two hours later, Yami and his friend and priest, Mahaado, were waiting outside of the newly dubbed classroom. They didn't have to wait long, before Maria and Seto came out.
"Maria, this is a good friend of mine and fellow priest. His name's Mahaado," said Yami.
"I'm glad to meet you, now we have another girl so Isis won't get bored pranking Seto alone..." said Mahaado trailing off as he suddenly realized that Seto was right there causing Yami to start laughing, "Oops."
"So Isis is the one who keeps pulling the pranks on me. I'll have to tell her that you told me," said Seto with a sly grin.
"Umm, Maria, how about I show you around before dinner," said Mahaado eagerly wanting to get away.
"All right Mahaado, I would like that a lot. This palace is so big, I'm afraid to get lost again," said Maria taking the arm that Mahaado offered to her. As they walked away, Yami called after them, "Remember, dinner is in an hour!"
As they rounded a corner, Mahaado visibly relaxed. Seeing Maria's curious look, he decided to explain. "You see Maria, Isis is a nice person, except when she gets mad. When she's mad, she is as unstoppable as that sandstorm two days back. When she finds out that I let it slip that she is the prankster, you'll be in for a treat to see the chase of the year," he said with a laugh.
The hour went by faster than Maria thought. She and Mahaado walked around the palace twice before arriving at the dining hall. Upon entering, Maria saw Yami, Aniba, the pharaoh, and four other priests already sitting around the table. Sitting down between Mahaado and Yami, Maria was quickly introduced to Karim, Akunadin, Isis, and Shaddah.
"Hey Karim, did you do it?" asked Mahaado.
"It's all set and ready to go. To give everyone fair warning, I put it in the drink pitcher. All you have to do to negate it, is put honey in your drink," said Karim to gales of laughter.
Maria was confused. "What are they talking about?" she asked Yami. Once he could speak again, Yami carefully explained.
"You see, we have been planning to make Seto act really... well silly, so we designed a tasteless and odorless potion that will have him be tonight's entertainment as a welcoming treat for you," said Yami laughing again.
"Won't he figure it out by putting honey in his drink?" asked Maria turning to Shaddah since Yami couldn't speak again.
Shaddah just smiled and said, "No, because Seto gets sick from honey,"
Maria finally found the humor in it, and started laughing, only to immediately have to control her laughter and emotions as Seto walked into the room. As dinner progressed, Seto started feeling dizzier and dizzier. Soon the faces of Mahaado, Maria, and Karim started melting together in his vision.
Starting to get up to get some fresh air, Seto tripped and fell, causing everyone to let loose their kept in laughter. This, fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, made Seto even more disoriented and confused. Struggling to get up, Seto fell again. After being helped up by Mahaado, Seto started stumbling towards the door, only to run into the wall.
This was too funny. Everyone was laughing so hard, there were tears rolling down their faces. Karim and Yami were even on the floor laughing. Finally after several more mishap-caused laughs, Aniba finally grabbed the honey and poured it down Seto's throat. The effect was immediate and quick. Seto stopped stumbling and became ashen-faced. Hurrying out of the room, Seto gave Mahaado and Karim one more laugh before they quieted down.
"Aniba, why did you give Seto honey?" asked Yami, his head reappearing from below the table.
"I started feeling sorry for him, even though he gets violently ill from honey," said Aniba.
"Pity that Seto had to miss his favorite dessert though," said Mahaado, helping himself to Seto's portion of the dessert.
After another hour, the priests started heading back to the wing where their and Yami's rooms were located, yawning all of the way. When Maria closed the door to her room, after saying good night to everyone else, she went to the balcony and looked out at the group of stars that Bakura called the Kuru Eruna cluster. Most of her was content and happy, while a portion of her greatly missed the company of her dancer friends, Khalid, Rei, and Bakura. Maria wished now that she hadn't fought with Bakura yesterday. She didn't know if she could ever make amends with him now.
Unbeknownst to Maria, Bakura just happened to be looking at the same cluster of stars, remembering the time he told her the story behind those stars a year ago.
Flashback
"You can look now Maria," said Bakura taking off the blindfold that was around Maria's eyes.
Maria opened her eyes. "Oh wow," she breathed, "I've never seen anything so beautiful as that star cluster."
Bakura smiled. "Those are the Kuru Eruna stars," he said sitting down on the top of the sand dune.
Maria sat down next to him. "It sounds like there is a story behind them," she said, "and I bet that you know it."
"Smart girl," chuckled Bakura, "Once there was a town called Kuru Eruna. The town was made up of thieves and other forms of lowlifes. It was like a separate country, because they had their own leader called the King of Thieves. The town was thriving on black market trade and stolen luxury. One day however..." said Bakura trailing off into thought.
"You are not going to keep me in suspense, are you?" asked Maria as she noticed the silence.
Bakura looked at her and smiled. "Of course not, I was only trying to remember the whole story. Ah, one day, however their lives were shattered. Soldiers rode through town slaughtering all of the inhabitants and burning the buildings to the ground. None survived, except for one little boy, who was hiding from the slaughter, but witnessed it all. The corpses of the dead were then collected, 99 in total, and boiled down along with other items needed for the alchemy of darkness to work. The molten gold was then poured into a special tablet, that when cooled, would produce the infamous millennium items. It was said, that the ninety-nine souls then flew into the heavens and became stars burning brightly in their vow for a someday revenge against the man who ordered the alchemy of darkness to be done," said Bakura finishing his tale.
Maria leaned against Bakura, who wrapped his arms around her to keep out the cold. Basking in the warmth, Maria suddenly realized something. "If you know so much about the story, then you must be the little boy who lived," she said.
"Is it that obvious?" asked Bakura looking towards the cluster.
"Yes it is. Bakura?"
"Yeah?"
"I hope that we'll never be fully separated from each other, like you were with your parents," said Maria looking towards the cluster also. Bakura didn't respond, but pulled Maria closer to him.
End flashback
Bakura sighed and buried his hands in his hair. As much as both of them had tried, they were separated. Bakura had gone to Maria's house to make amends, and saw that her house was empty. Bakura and Rei had searched the town and the Nile banks, with no luck. They only found out from the other dancers, was that Maria had gone off with a cloaked man, and didn't return. All he hoped was that Maria could see the stars from wherever she was. Looking up, Bakura smiled as the Kuru Eruna stars blazed like fire. Every year they did that on the anniversary of Kuru Eruna's destruction. Closing his eyes, Bakura made a wish that Maria would be returned to him safely one day.
Maria gasped with surprise and awe as she saw the cluster light up with a brilliant light. "The wrath of the souls," she murmured. After a few minutes, Maria went into her room and fell asleep. The next morning, she was awakened by a loud yell. Looking into the hallway, Maria saw Mahaado sprinting down the hall towards the safety of his room with Isis in close pursuit. As everyone watched, Isis leaped onto Mahaado's back, causing him to fall and skid down the hall. Mahaado desperately tried to stop, but in doing so, ended up crashing into the wall at the end of the hall face first. As laughter rang through the halls, Maria saw a still pale Seto go back into his room with a triumphant smirk on his face.
A while later, as everyone was eating breakfast, Mahaado kept receiving jokes and questions on if he had a nice trip. Isis and Seto both looked triumphant, while Maria was sympathetic and left Mahaado alone.
During lessons, Seto explained the duties of a priest some more. After the first hour, Seto stood and cleared the floor of the chairs. "I have taught you all of the duties and necessities for a priest to carry out. Now, Yami and I will start teaching you magic," said Seto. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
YSF: oh man, I have the worst writer's block in history. I can't believe that both me and Yugi ran dry.
Yugi: It's not like me, sorry.
YSF: it's ok. Any mistakes Ryou?
Ryou: nope.
Bakura & Yami: try to sneak by Ryou, YSF, and Yugi
YSF: without turning around I know you're there, Yami, Bakura.
Yami: drat
YSF: and where did you two disappear off to?
Bakura: fresh air?
Ryou: liar
Yami & Bakura: ; we're dead.
"That's the size of all of the rooms, except for the slaves and servants quarters, and also the pharaoh's chambers and they are bigger," said Yami.
It should actually be:
"That's the size of all of the rooms, except for the slaves and servants quarters, and also the pharaoh's chambers and that's bigger," said Yami.
YSF: hehe, my muse and editor both had run away, so I missed it. Fortunately, I have new ones that won't run away, right?
Ryou: is wearing a visor that says 'editor' I won't.
Yugi: me neither.
YSF: you guys are so much cuter and nicer than Yami and Bakura. Yugi, can you do the disclaimer?
Yugi: sure. YSF doesn't own Yugioh, Egypt, or anything else that she might have forgotten to add in this disclaimer.
################################################################
The walk to the palace wasn't a long one, but for Yami carrying things, it was a little bit of torture. When they arrived, Yami saw Aniba waiting for them at the top of the steps leading to the entrance.
"Maria, this is my sister Aniba. Aniba, this is Maria," said Yami dropping the bag.
"It's a pleasure to meet you at last," said Aniba.
"Likewise," said Maria smiling.
A second later, Shimon came out and told Yami and Aniba to take Maria to the throne room while he took care of Maria's possessions. Being led into the throne room, Maria saw a person standing next to the pharaoh's throne.
"Maria, welcome again to the palace," said Akunumkanon as Maria bowed.
"Thank you sir, Yami told me that you want me to become a priestess," said Maria.
"That is correct. This is Seto. He'll be mentoring you in everything that you need to know. Yami and Aniba will also be helping him out. Aniba, would you take Maria to be cleaned up and clothed in the proper attire?" said Akunumkanon.
"Yes father. Maria follow me," said Aniba walking out of the throne room.
As they walked, Maria thought of something suddenly. "Does Seto ever smile?" she asked.
Aniba laughed at that. "You have to catch him at a good time," she snickered, "Otherwise, you would see him always serious. He's dedicated to his work, making him the perfect candidate to teach you. Besides the fact that he's my cousin."
After her bath, Maria stood in front of her mirror, while Aniba put on finishing touches, surprised at the image reflected back at her. She had on a white dress that was slightly form fitting with a gold belt. Her arms were adorned with gold arm and wristbands, and on her feet were soft, white slippers with gold trim. (Yugi: basically the outfit that priestess Isis wears in the Ancient Egypt manga. Ryou: Shh!) Maria's normally dull brown hair was now shiny, soft, and pulled back in a braid to keep it out of her face.
"Aniba, how did you do it? It seems like a totally different person is staring at me from the mirror," Maria said turning to face her new friend.
"Washing off grime and dirt usually does that to people," joked Aniba earning a slight glare from Maria.
"Very funny," said Maria, "So when am I to meet Mr. Serious?"
"I'm supposed to take you now," said Aniba, "Once your torture... I mean training is done, maybe Yami will drop by to give you a tour."
Aniba led Maria through the halls to finally stop in front of a set of doors. "Here you are, Seto's waiting," Aniba said as she knocked on the door and pushed it open.
Maria walked into the room to see Seto waiting for her. "Maria, it's nice to see you prepared for lesson," said Seto sitting down on a chair.
"What are we going to do first Seto?" asked Maria sitting down in the other chair.
"Well, I was thinking to start with the basics, teaching you to read and write, because you'll need that the most," said Seto picking up a piece of papyrus and a stylus. (Ryou's note: a stylus is what the Ancient Egyptians used to write with. It was basically a sharpened stick dipped in ink, and used like a quill. Yugi: I should shush you now. Ryou: I was only explaining something, unlike your previous interruption. YSF: please boys, no fighting, I'm trying to write.)
"Umm, I already know how to read and write," said Maria quietly.
Seto raised an eyebrow. "Really, and who taught you this?" he asked curiously.
"Well, as you know, I was, until maybe an hour ago, a dancer. Once I performed for a retired scribe and his guests, and he didn't have enough to pay me for my services, so he offered to teach me to read and write as payment," Maria explained.
"Ah, the gift that keeps on giving. Very well, before I start teaching you how to harness your magic and to memorize spells, I will teach you proper palace, shrine, and temple etiquette along with our policies and duties that we priests are expected to fulfill. Understood?" asked Seto. Seeing Maria nod, they began.
About two hours later, Yami and his friend and priest, Mahaado, were waiting outside of the newly dubbed classroom. They didn't have to wait long, before Maria and Seto came out.
"Maria, this is a good friend of mine and fellow priest. His name's Mahaado," said Yami.
"I'm glad to meet you, now we have another girl so Isis won't get bored pranking Seto alone..." said Mahaado trailing off as he suddenly realized that Seto was right there causing Yami to start laughing, "Oops."
"So Isis is the one who keeps pulling the pranks on me. I'll have to tell her that you told me," said Seto with a sly grin.
"Umm, Maria, how about I show you around before dinner," said Mahaado eagerly wanting to get away.
"All right Mahaado, I would like that a lot. This palace is so big, I'm afraid to get lost again," said Maria taking the arm that Mahaado offered to her. As they walked away, Yami called after them, "Remember, dinner is in an hour!"
As they rounded a corner, Mahaado visibly relaxed. Seeing Maria's curious look, he decided to explain. "You see Maria, Isis is a nice person, except when she gets mad. When she's mad, she is as unstoppable as that sandstorm two days back. When she finds out that I let it slip that she is the prankster, you'll be in for a treat to see the chase of the year," he said with a laugh.
The hour went by faster than Maria thought. She and Mahaado walked around the palace twice before arriving at the dining hall. Upon entering, Maria saw Yami, Aniba, the pharaoh, and four other priests already sitting around the table. Sitting down between Mahaado and Yami, Maria was quickly introduced to Karim, Akunadin, Isis, and Shaddah.
"Hey Karim, did you do it?" asked Mahaado.
"It's all set and ready to go. To give everyone fair warning, I put it in the drink pitcher. All you have to do to negate it, is put honey in your drink," said Karim to gales of laughter.
Maria was confused. "What are they talking about?" she asked Yami. Once he could speak again, Yami carefully explained.
"You see, we have been planning to make Seto act really... well silly, so we designed a tasteless and odorless potion that will have him be tonight's entertainment as a welcoming treat for you," said Yami laughing again.
"Won't he figure it out by putting honey in his drink?" asked Maria turning to Shaddah since Yami couldn't speak again.
Shaddah just smiled and said, "No, because Seto gets sick from honey,"
Maria finally found the humor in it, and started laughing, only to immediately have to control her laughter and emotions as Seto walked into the room. As dinner progressed, Seto started feeling dizzier and dizzier. Soon the faces of Mahaado, Maria, and Karim started melting together in his vision.
Starting to get up to get some fresh air, Seto tripped and fell, causing everyone to let loose their kept in laughter. This, fortunately or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, made Seto even more disoriented and confused. Struggling to get up, Seto fell again. After being helped up by Mahaado, Seto started stumbling towards the door, only to run into the wall.
This was too funny. Everyone was laughing so hard, there were tears rolling down their faces. Karim and Yami were even on the floor laughing. Finally after several more mishap-caused laughs, Aniba finally grabbed the honey and poured it down Seto's throat. The effect was immediate and quick. Seto stopped stumbling and became ashen-faced. Hurrying out of the room, Seto gave Mahaado and Karim one more laugh before they quieted down.
"Aniba, why did you give Seto honey?" asked Yami, his head reappearing from below the table.
"I started feeling sorry for him, even though he gets violently ill from honey," said Aniba.
"Pity that Seto had to miss his favorite dessert though," said Mahaado, helping himself to Seto's portion of the dessert.
After another hour, the priests started heading back to the wing where their and Yami's rooms were located, yawning all of the way. When Maria closed the door to her room, after saying good night to everyone else, she went to the balcony and looked out at the group of stars that Bakura called the Kuru Eruna cluster. Most of her was content and happy, while a portion of her greatly missed the company of her dancer friends, Khalid, Rei, and Bakura. Maria wished now that she hadn't fought with Bakura yesterday. She didn't know if she could ever make amends with him now.
Unbeknownst to Maria, Bakura just happened to be looking at the same cluster of stars, remembering the time he told her the story behind those stars a year ago.
Flashback
"You can look now Maria," said Bakura taking off the blindfold that was around Maria's eyes.
Maria opened her eyes. "Oh wow," she breathed, "I've never seen anything so beautiful as that star cluster."
Bakura smiled. "Those are the Kuru Eruna stars," he said sitting down on the top of the sand dune.
Maria sat down next to him. "It sounds like there is a story behind them," she said, "and I bet that you know it."
"Smart girl," chuckled Bakura, "Once there was a town called Kuru Eruna. The town was made up of thieves and other forms of lowlifes. It was like a separate country, because they had their own leader called the King of Thieves. The town was thriving on black market trade and stolen luxury. One day however..." said Bakura trailing off into thought.
"You are not going to keep me in suspense, are you?" asked Maria as she noticed the silence.
Bakura looked at her and smiled. "Of course not, I was only trying to remember the whole story. Ah, one day, however their lives were shattered. Soldiers rode through town slaughtering all of the inhabitants and burning the buildings to the ground. None survived, except for one little boy, who was hiding from the slaughter, but witnessed it all. The corpses of the dead were then collected, 99 in total, and boiled down along with other items needed for the alchemy of darkness to work. The molten gold was then poured into a special tablet, that when cooled, would produce the infamous millennium items. It was said, that the ninety-nine souls then flew into the heavens and became stars burning brightly in their vow for a someday revenge against the man who ordered the alchemy of darkness to be done," said Bakura finishing his tale.
Maria leaned against Bakura, who wrapped his arms around her to keep out the cold. Basking in the warmth, Maria suddenly realized something. "If you know so much about the story, then you must be the little boy who lived," she said.
"Is it that obvious?" asked Bakura looking towards the cluster.
"Yes it is. Bakura?"
"Yeah?"
"I hope that we'll never be fully separated from each other, like you were with your parents," said Maria looking towards the cluster also. Bakura didn't respond, but pulled Maria closer to him.
End flashback
Bakura sighed and buried his hands in his hair. As much as both of them had tried, they were separated. Bakura had gone to Maria's house to make amends, and saw that her house was empty. Bakura and Rei had searched the town and the Nile banks, with no luck. They only found out from the other dancers, was that Maria had gone off with a cloaked man, and didn't return. All he hoped was that Maria could see the stars from wherever she was. Looking up, Bakura smiled as the Kuru Eruna stars blazed like fire. Every year they did that on the anniversary of Kuru Eruna's destruction. Closing his eyes, Bakura made a wish that Maria would be returned to him safely one day.
Maria gasped with surprise and awe as she saw the cluster light up with a brilliant light. "The wrath of the souls," she murmured. After a few minutes, Maria went into her room and fell asleep. The next morning, she was awakened by a loud yell. Looking into the hallway, Maria saw Mahaado sprinting down the hall towards the safety of his room with Isis in close pursuit. As everyone watched, Isis leaped onto Mahaado's back, causing him to fall and skid down the hall. Mahaado desperately tried to stop, but in doing so, ended up crashing into the wall at the end of the hall face first. As laughter rang through the halls, Maria saw a still pale Seto go back into his room with a triumphant smirk on his face.
A while later, as everyone was eating breakfast, Mahaado kept receiving jokes and questions on if he had a nice trip. Isis and Seto both looked triumphant, while Maria was sympathetic and left Mahaado alone.
During lessons, Seto explained the duties of a priest some more. After the first hour, Seto stood and cleared the floor of the chairs. "I have taught you all of the duties and necessities for a priest to carry out. Now, Yami and I will start teaching you magic," said Seto. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
YSF: oh man, I have the worst writer's block in history. I can't believe that both me and Yugi ran dry.
Yugi: It's not like me, sorry.
YSF: it's ok. Any mistakes Ryou?
Ryou: nope.
Bakura & Yami: try to sneak by Ryou, YSF, and Yugi
YSF: without turning around I know you're there, Yami, Bakura.
Yami: drat
YSF: and where did you two disappear off to?
Bakura: fresh air?
Ryou: liar
Yami & Bakura: ; we're dead.